Central African Republic Civil War (2012–present)


The Central African Republic conflict is an ongoing civil war in the Central African Republic involving the government, rebels from the Séléka coalition, and anti-balaka militias.
In the preceding Central African Republic Bush War, the government of President François Bozizé fought with rebels until a peace agreement in 2007. The current conflict arose when a new coalition of varied rebel groups, known as Séléka, accused the government of failing to abide by the peace agreements and captured many towns at the end of 2012. The capital was seized by the rebels in March 2013, Bozizé fled the country, and the rebel leader Michel Djotodia declared himself president. Renewed fighting began between Séléka and militias called anti-balaka. In September 2013, President Djotodia disbanded the Séléka coalition, which had lost its unity after taking power, and in January 2014, Djotodia resigned. He was replaced by Catherine Samba-Panza, but the conflict continued. In July 2014, ex-Séléka factions and anti-balaka representatives signed a ceasefire agreement in Brazzaville. By the end of 2014, the country was de facto partitioned with the anti-Balaka controlling the south and west, from which most Muslims had evacuated, and ex-Seleka groups controlling the north and east.
Much of the tension is over religious identity between Muslim Séléka fighters and Christian anti-balaka. Other contributing factors include ethnic differences among ex-Séléka factions and historical antagonism between agriculturalists, who largely comprise anti-balaka, and nomadic groups, who constitute most Séléka fighters. More than 1.1 million people have fled their homes in a country of about 5 million people, the highest ever recorded in the country.

Background

The peacekeeping force Multinational Force in the Central African Republic was formed in October 2002 by the regional economic community, Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa.
After François Bozizé seized power in 2003, the Central African Republic Bush War began with the rebellion by the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity in North-Eastern CAR, led by Michel Djotodia. During this conflict, the UFDR rebel forces also fought with several other rebel groups including the Groupe d'action patriotique pour la libération de Centrafrique, the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace, the People's Army for the Restoration of Democracy, the Movement of Central African Liberators for Justice, and the Front démocratique Centrafricain. Tens of thousands of people were displaced by the unrest, which continued until 2007, with rebel forces seizing several cities during the conflict.
On 13 April 2007, a peace agreement between the government and the UFDR was signed in Birao. The agreement provided for an amnesty for the UFDR, its recognition as a political party, and the integration of its fighters into the army. Further negotiations resulted in an Libreville Global Peace Accord agreement in 2008 for reconciliation, a unity government, and local elections in 2009 and parliamentary and presidential elections in 2010. The new unity government that resulted was formed in January 2009. On 12 July 2008, with the waning of the Central African Republic Bush War, the larger overlapping regional economic community to CEMAC called the Economic Community of Central African States replaced FOMUC, whose mandate was largely restricted to security, with the Central African Peacebuilding Mission, who had a broader peace building mandate.
Rebel groups alleged that Bozizé had not followed the terms of the 2007 agreement and that there continued to be political abuses, especially in the northern part of the country, such as "torture and illegal executions".

Course of the conflict

Toppling Bozizé (2012–2013)

Formation of Seleka

In August 2012 a peace agreement was signed between the government and the CPJP. On 20 August 2012, an agreement was signed between a dissident faction of the CPJP, led by Colonel Hassan Al Habib calling itself "Fundamental CPJP". and the Patriotic Convention for Saving the Country. Al Habib announced that, in protest of the peace agreement, the Fundamental CPJP was launching an offensive dubbed "Operation Charles Massi", in memory of the CPJP founder who was allegedly tortured and murdered by the government and that his group intended to overthrow Bozizé. In September, fundamental CPJ, using the French name alliance CPSK-CPJP took responsibility for attacks on the towns of Sibut, Damara and Dekoa, killing two members of the army. It claimed that it had killed two additional members of the Central African Armed Forces in Damara, capturing military and civilian vehicles, weapons including rockets, and communications equipment, and launched unsuccessful assault on a fourth town, Grimari and promised more operations in future. Mahamath Isseine Abdoulaye, president of the pro-government CPJP faction, countered that the CPJP was committed to the peace agreement and the attacks were the work of Chadian rebels, saying this group of "thieves" would never be able to march on Bangui. Al Habib was killed by the FACA on 19 September in Daya, a town north of Dekoa.
In November 2012, in Obo, FACA soldiers were injured in an attack attributed to Chadian Popular Front for Recovery rebels. On 10 December 2012, the rebels seized the towns of N'Délé, Sam Ouandja and Ouadda, as well as weapons left by fleeing soldiers. On 15 December, rebel forces took Bamingui, and three days later they advanced to Bria, moving closer to Bangui. The alliance for the first time used the name "Seleka" with a press release calling itself "Séléka CPSK-CPJP-UFDR" thus including the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity. The Séléka claim they are fighting because of a lack of progress after a peace deal ended the Bush War. Following an appeal for help from Central African President François Bozizé, the President of Chad, Idriss Déby, pledged to send 2000 troops to help quell the rebellion. The first Chadian troops arrived on 18 December to reinforce the CAR contingent in Kaga Bandoro, in preparation for a counter-attack on N'Délé. Séléka forces took Kabo on 19 December, a major hub for transport between Chad and CAR, located west and north of the areas previously taken by the rebels. On 18 December 2012, the Chadian group Popular Front for Recovery announced their allegiance to the Séléka coalition. On 20 December 2012, a rebel group based in northern CAR, the Democratic Front of the Central African People joined the Seleka coalition. Four days later the rebel coalition took over Bambari, the country's third largest town, followed by Kaga-Bandoro on 25 December. Rebel forces reached Damara, bypassing the town of Sibut where around 150 Chadian troops are stationed together with CAR troops that withdrew from Kaga-Bandoro.
On 26 December, hundreds of protesters surrounded the French embassy accusing the former colonial power of failing to help the army. Josué Binoua, the CAR's minister for territorial administration, requested that France intervenes in case the rebels, now only away, manage to reach the capital Bangui. On 27 December, Bozizé asked the international community for assistance. French President François Hollande rejected the appeal, saying that French troops would only be used to protect French nationals in the CAR, and not to defend Bozizé's government. Reports indicated that the U.S. military was preparing plans to evacuate "several hundred" American citizens, as well as other nationals. General Jean-Felix Akaga, commander of the Economic Community of Central African States' Multinational Force of Central Africa, said the capital was "fully secured" by the troops from its MICOPAX peacekeeping mission, adding that reinforcements should arrive soon. However, military sources in Gabon and Cameroon denied the report, claiming no decision had been taken regarding the crisis.
Government soldiers launched a counterattack against rebel forces in Bambari on 28 December, leading to heavy clashes, according to a government official. Several witnesses over away said they could hear detonations and heavy weapons fire for a number of hours. Later, both a rebel leader and a military source confirmed the military attack was repelled and the town remained under rebel control. At least one rebel fighter was killed and three were wounded in the clashes, the military's casualties were unknown.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers in the ECCAS announced that more troops from the Multinational Force for Central Africa would be sent to the country to support the 560 members of the MICOPAX mission already present. The announcement was done by Chad's Foreign Minister Moussa Faki after a meeting in the Gabonese capital Libreville. At the same time, ECCAS deputy secretary general Guy-Pierre Garcia confirmed that the rebels and the CAR government had agreed to unconditional talks, with the goal to get to negotiations by 10 January at the latest. In Bangui, the U.S. Air Force evacuated around 40 people from the country, including the American ambassador. The International Committee of the Red Cross also evacuated eight of its foreign workers, though local volunteers and 14 other foreigners remained to help the growing number of displaced people.
Rebel forces took over the town of Sibut without firing a shot on 29 December, as at least 60 vehicles with CAR and Chadian troops retreated to Damara, the last city standing between Séléka and the capital. In Bangui, the government ordered a 7 pm to 5 am curfew and banned the use of motorcycle taxis, fearing they could be used by rebels to infiltrate the city. Residents reported many shop-owners had hired groups of armed men to guard their property in anticipation of possible looting, as thousands were leaving the city in overloaded cars and boats. The French military contingent rose to 400 with the deployment of 150 additional paratroopers sent from Gabon to Bangui M'Poko International Airport. French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault again stressed that the troops were only present to "protect French and European nationals" and not deal with the rebels.

Foreign troops and ceasefire agreement

On 30 December, President Bozizé agreed to a possible national unity government with members of the Séléka coalition. On 2 January 2013, the President took over as the new head of the defense ministry from his son and dismissed army chief Guillaume Lapo. Meanwhile, rebel spokesman Col. Djouma Narkoyo confirmed that Séléka had stopped their advance and will enter peace talks due to start in Libreville on 8 January, on the precondition that government forces stop arresting members of the Gula tribe. The rebel coalition confirmed it would demand the immediate departure of president Bozize, who had pledged to see out his term until its end in 2016. By 1 January reinforcements from FOMAC began to arrive in Damara to support the 400 Chadian troops already stationed there as part of the MICOPAX mission. With rebels closing in on the capital Bangui, a total of 360 soldiers were sent to boost the defenses of Damara – Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 120 each from Gabon, Republic of the Congo and Cameroon, with a Gabonese general in command of the force. Jean-Félix Akaga, the Gabonese general in charge of the MICOPAX force sent by the ECCAS, declared that Damara represented a "red line that the rebels cannot cross", and that doing so would be "a declaration of war" against the 10 members of the regional bloc. France had further boosted its presence in the country to 600 troops. On 6 January, South African President Jacob Zuma announced the deployment of 400 troops to the CAR to assist the forces already present there.
On 11 January 2013, a ceasefire agreement was signed in Libreville, Gabon. On 13 January, Bozizé signed a decree that removed Prime Minister Faustin-Archange Touadéra from power, as part of the agreement with the rebel coalition. The rebels dropped their demand for President François Bozizé to resign, but he had to appoint a new prime minister from the opposition by 18 January 2013. On 17 January, Nicolas Tiangaye was appointed Prime Minister. The terms of the agreement also included that National Assembly of the Central African Republic be dissolved within a week with a year-long coalition government formed in its place and a new legislative election be held within 12 months. In addition the temporary coalition government had to implement judicial reforms, amalgamate the rebel troops with the Bozizé government's troops in order to establish a new national military, set up the new legislative elections, as well as introduce other social and economic reforms. Furthermore, Bozizé's government was required to free all political prisoners imprisoned during the conflict, and foreign troops must return to their countries of origin. Under the agreement, Séléka rebels were not required to give up the cities they have taken or were then occupying, allegedly as a way to ensure that the Bozizé government would not renege on the agreement. Bozizé would be allowed to remain President until new presidential elections in 2016.
On 23 January 2013, the ceasefire was broken, with the government blaming Séléka and Séléka blaming the government for allegedly failing to honor the terms of the power-sharing agreement. By 21 March, the rebels had advanced to Bouca, 300 km from the capital Bangui. On 22 March, the fighting reached the town of Damara, 75 km from the capital.

Fall of Bangui

On 18 March 2013, the rebels, having taken over Gambo and Bangassou, threatened to take up arms again if their demands for the release of political prisoners, the integration of their forces into the national army and for South African soldiers to leave the country were not met within 72 hours. Three days later, they took control of the towns of Damara and Bossangoa. By 23 March, they entered Bangui. On 24 March, rebels reached the presidential palace in the centre of the capital. The presidential palace and the rest of the capital soon fell to rebel forces and Bozizé fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was followed by widespread looting in the capital. By 2 April, only 20 of the original 200 South African National Defence Force troops stationed in the CAR remained in the country. A company of French troops secured Bangui M'Poko International Airport and France sent 350 soldiers to ensure the security of its citizens, bringing the total number of French troops in CAR to nearly 600. On 25 March 2013, Séléka leader Michel Djotodia, who served after the January agreement as First Deputy Prime Minister for National Defense, declared himself President, becoming the first Muslim to ever hold the office. Djotodia said that there would be a three-year transitional period and that Nicolas Tiangaye would continue to serve as Prime Minister. Djotodia promptly suspended the constitution and dissolved the government, as well as the National Assembly. He then reappointed Tiangaye as Prime Minister on 27 March 2013.

Séléka rule and fall of Djotodia (2013–2014)

In the following two days Top military and police officers met with Djotodia and recognized him as President on 28 March 2013, in what was viewed as "a form of surrender" and the overall security situation was beginning to improve. A new government headed by Tiangaye, with 34 members, appointed on 31 March 2013, included nine members of Séléka, along with eight representatives of the parties that had opposed Bozizé, while only one member of the government was associated with Bozizé and 16 positions were given to representatives of civil society. The former opposition parties declared on 1 April that they would boycott the government to protest its domination by Séléka arguing that the 16 positions given to representatives of civil society were in fact "handed over to Séléka allies disguised as civil society activists".
On 3 April 2013, African leaders meeting in Chad declared that they did not recognize Djotodia as President; instead, they proposed the formation of an inclusive transitional council and the holding of new elections in 18 months, rather than three years as envisioned by Djotodia. Speaking on 4 April, Information Minister Christophe Gazam Betty said that Djotodia had accepted the proposals of the African leaders; however, he suggested that Djotodia could remain in office if he were elected to head the transitional council. Djotodia accordingly signed a decree on 6 April for the formation of a transitional council that would act as a transitional parliament. The council was tasked with electing an interim president to serve during an 18-month transitional period leading to new elections.
during coordinated attack against Muslims called the "Battle of Bangui".
The transitional council, composed of 105 members, met for the first time on 13 April 2013 and immediately elected Djotodia as interim President; there were no other candidates. A few days later, regional leaders publicly accepted Djotodia's transitional leadership, but, in a symbolic show of disapproval, stated that he would "not be called President of the Republic, but Head of State of the Transition". According to the plans for the transition, Djotodia would not stand as a candidate for President in the election that would conclude the transition.
On 13 September 2013, Djotodia formally disbanded Seleka, which he had lost effective control of once the coalition had taken power. This had little actual effect in stopping abuses by the militia soldiers who were now referred to as Ex-seleka. Self-defense militias called Antibalaka previously formed to fight crime on a local level, had organized into militias against abuses by Seleka soldiers. On 5 December 2013, called "A Day That Will Define Central African Republic", the antibalaka militias coordinated an attack on Bangui against its Muslim population, killing more than 1,000 civilians, in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow Djotodia.
On 14 May CAR's PM Nicolas Tiangaye requested a UN peacekeeping force from the UN Security Council and on 31 May former President Bozizé was indicted for crimes against humanity and incitement of genocide. On the same day as the 5 December attacks, the UN Security Council authorized the transfer of MICOPAX to the African Union led peacekeeping mission the International Support Mission in the Central African Republic with troop numbers increasing from 2,000 to 6,000 as well as for the French peacekeeping mission called Operation Sangaris.
, authorized after communal violence in the capital in 2013.
Michel Djotodia and Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye resigned on 10 January 2014 yet the conflict still continued. The National Transitional Council elected the new interim president of the Central Africa Republic after Nguendet became the acting chief of state. Nguendet, being the president of the provisional parliament and viewed as being close to Djotodia, did not run for the election under diplomatic pressure. On 20 January 2014, Catherine Samba-Panza, the mayor of Bangui, was elected as the interim president in the second round voting. Samba-Panza was viewed as having been neutral and away from clan clashes. Her arrival to the presidency was generally accepted by both the ex-Séléka and the anti-balaka sides. Following the election, Samba-Panza made a speech in the parliament appealing to the ex-Séléka and the anti-balaka for putting down their weapons.

Ex-Séléka and Anti-balaka fighting (2014–present)

On 27 January, Séléka leaders left Bangui under the escort of Chadian peacekeepers. The aftermath of Djotodia's presidency was said to be without law, a functioning police and courts. In the days after the election of the interim president, anti-Muslim pogroms and looting of Muslim neighborhoods continued in Bangui, including the lynching of the Muslim former Health Minister Dr. Joseph Kalite by Christian self-defence groups. Accounts state of lynch mobs, including that of uniformed soldiers, stoning or hacking Muslims then dismembering and burning their bodies in the streets.
The European Union decided to set up its first military operations in six years when foreign ministers approved the sending of up to 1,000 soldiers to the country by the end of February, to be based around Bangui. Estonia promised to send soldiers, while Lithuania, Slovenia, Finland, Belgium, Poland and Sweden were considering sending troops; Germany, Italy and Great Britain announced that they would not send soldiers. The UN Security Council unanimously voted to approve sending European Union troops and to give them a mandate to use force, as well as threatening sanctions against those responsible for the violence. The E.U. had pledged 500 troops to aid African and French troops already in the country. Specifically the resolution allowed for the use of "all necessary measures" to protect civilians. The first batch of 55 EUFOR troops arrived in Bangui, according to the French army, and carried out its first patrol on 9 April with the intention of "maintaining security and training local officers". On 15 February, France announced that it would send an additional 400 troops to the country. French President François Hollande's office called for "increased solidarity" with the CAR and for the United Nations Security Council to accelerate the deployment of peacekeeping troops to the CAR. Moon then also called for the rapid deployment of 3,000 additional international peacekeepers. Because of increasing violence, on 10 April 2014, the UN Security Council transferred MISCA to a UN peacekeeping operation called the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic with 10,000 troops, to be deployed in September that year. MINUSCA drew figurative "red lines" on the roads to keep the peace among rival militias. France called for a vote at the UNSC in April 2014 and expected a unanimous resolution authorising 10,000 troops and 1,800 police to replace the over 5,000 African Union soldiers on 15 September; the motion was then approved. After an incident where civilians were killed that involved Chadian soldiers, Chad announced the withdrawal of its forces from MISCA in April 2014.
As UN Secretary-General Ban-ki Moon warned of a de facto partition of the country into Muslim and Christian areas as a result of the sectarian fighting, He also called the conflict an "urgent test" for the UN and the region's states. Amnesty International blamed the anti-balaka militia of causing a "Muslim exodus of historic proportions." Samba-Panza suggested poverty and a failure of governance was the cause of the conflict. Some Muslims of the country were also weary of the French presence in MISCA, with the French accused of not doing enough to stop attacks by Christian militias. One of the cited reasons for the difficulty in stopping attacks by anti-balaka militias was the mob nature of these attacks.
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After three days of talks, a ceasefire was signed on 24 July 2014 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. The Séléka representative was General Mohamed Moussa Dhaffane, and the anti-balaka representative was Patrick Edouard Ngaissona. The talks were mediated by Congolese president Denis Sassou Nguesso. The Séléka delegation had pushed for a formalization of the partition of the Central African Republic with Muslims in the north and Christians in the south but dropped that demand in talks. Many factions on the ground claimed the talks were not representative and fighting continued with Séléka's military leader Joseph Zindeko rejected the ceasefire agreement the next day saying it lacked input from his military wing and brought back the demand for partition. Ngaissona told a general assembly of Antibalaka fighters and supporters to lay down their arms and that Antibalaka would be turned into a political party called Central African Party for Unity and Development but he had little control over the loose network of fighters. In May 2015, a national reconciliation conference organized by the transition government of the Central Africa Republic took place. This was called the Bangui National Forum. The forum resulted in the adoption of a Republican Pact for Peace, National Reconciliation and Reconstruction and the signature of a Disarmament, Demobilisation, Rehabilitation and Repatriation agreement among 9 of 10 armed groups.
Months after the official dissolution of Seleka it was not known who was in charge of Ex-Seleka factions during talks with Antibalaka until on 12 July 2014, Michel Djotodia was reinstated as the head of an ad hoc coalition of Exseleka which renamed itself "The Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central African Republic". Later in 2014, Noureddine Adam led the FPRC and began demanding independence for the predominantly Muslim north, a move rejected by another general, Ali Darassa, who formed another Ex-Séléka faction called the "Union for Peace in the Central African Republic", which was dominant in and around Bambari, while the FPRC's capital is in Bria. Darassa rebuffed multiple attempts to reunify Seleka and threatened FPRC's hegemony. Noureddine Adam declared the autonomous Republic of Logone or Dar El Kuti on 14 December 2015 and intended Bambari as the capital, with the transitional government denouncing the declaration and MINUSCA stating it will use force against any separatist attempt. Another group is the "Central African Patriotic Movement", founded by Mahamat Al Khatim.
to become President following the 2016 election.
Since 2014, there has been little government control outside of the capital. Armed entrepreneurs have carved out personal fiefdoms in which they set up checkpoints, collect illegal taxes, and take in millions of dollars from the illicit coffee, mineral, and timber trades. At least 14 armed groups vied for territory, notably four factions formed by ex-Séléka leaders who controlled about 60% of the country's territory. In January 2015, talks in Nairobi between Joachim Kokate representing the Antibalaka and Djotodia and Noureddine Adam of FPRC led to another ceasefire agreement where they called for amnesty for all perpetrators of abuses and the removal of the current transitional authorities. The transitional government and the international community dismissed the deal as it excluded them from the negotiations and termed the parties "Nairobists". By October 2015, Samba-Panza accused the Nairobists of plotting a coup and dozens of FPRC combatants even walked from the north-east of the country to Sibut, a few miles from the capital, threatening the transitional authorities but were stopped by International forces. With the de facto partition of the country between ex-Séléka militias in the north and east and Antibalaka militias in the south and west, hostilities between both sides decreased but sporadic fighting continued. In February 2016, after a peaceful election, the former Prime Minister Faustin-Archange Touadéra was elected president. In October 2016, France announced that it was ending its peacekeeping mission in the country, Operation Sangaris and largely withdrew its troops, saying that the operation was a success. By March 2014, the UNSC had authorised a probe into possible genocide, which in turn followed International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda initiating a preliminary investigation into the "extreme brutality" and whether it falls into the court's remit. The UNSC mandate probe would be led by Cameroonian lawyer Bernard Acho Muna, who was the deputy chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, former Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jorge Castañeda and Mauritanian lawyer Fatimata M'Baye. The ICC began prosecutions and Alfred Yekatom of the antiBalaka who was involved in the 'Battle of Bangui' and Patrice Edouard Ngaissona of the antiBalaka were arrested in 2018, although no one from the ex-Seleka was arrested.
Tensions erupted in competition between Ex-Seleka militias arising over control of a goldmine in November 2016, where MPC and the FPRC coalition which incorporated elements of their former enemy, the Anti-balaka, attacked UPC. The violence is often ethnic in nature with the FPRC associated with the Gula and Runga people and the UPC associated with the Fulani. Most of the fighting was in the centrally located Ouaka prefecture, which has the country's second largest city Bambari, because of its strategic location between the Muslim and Christian regions of the country and its wealth. The fight for Bambari in early 2017 displaced 20,000. MINUSCA made a robust deployment to prevent FPRC taking the city and in February 2017, Joseph Zoundeiko, the chief of staff of FPRC who previously led the military wing of Seleka, was killed by MINUSCA after crossing one of the red lines. At the same time, MINUSCA negotiated the removal of Darassa from the city. This led to UPC to find new territory, spreading the fighting from urban to rural areas previously spared. Additionally, the thinly spread MINUSCA relied on Ugandan as well as American special forces to keep the peace in the southeast as they were part of a campaign to eliminate the Lord's Resistance Army but the mission ended in April 2017. By the latter half of 2017, the fighting largely shifted to the Southeast where the UPC reorganized and were pursued by the FPRC and antibalaka with the level of violence only matched by the early stage of the war. About 15,000 people fled from their homes in an attack in May and six U.N. peacekeepers were killed – the deadliest month for the mission yet. In June 2017, another ceasefire was signed in Rome by the government and 14 armed groups including FPRC but the next day fighting between an FPRC faction and antibalaka militias killed more than 100 people. In October 2017, another ceasefire was signed between the UPC, the FPRC, and anti-balaka groups and FPRC announced Ali Darassa as coalition vice-president but fighting continued afterward. By July 2018, FPRC, now headed by Abdoulaye Hissène and based in the northeastern town of Ndélé, had troops threatening to move onto Bangui.
In Western CAR, another rebel group, with no known links to Seleka or Antibalaka, called "Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation" formed in 2015 reportedly by self-proclaimed general Sidiki Abass, claiming to be protecting Muslim Fulani people from an Antibalaka militia led by Abbas Rafal. They are accused of displacing 17,000 people in November 2016 and at least 30,000 people in the Ouham-Pendé prefecture in December 2016. In Northwestern CAR around Paoua, fighting since December 2017 between Revolution and Justice and Movement for the Liberation of the Central African Republic People displaced around 60,000 people. MNLC, founded in October 2017, was led by Ahamat Bahar, a former member and co-founder of FPRC and MRC, and is allegedly backed by Fulani fighters from Chad. The Christian militant group RJ was formed in 2013, mostly by members of the presidential guard of former President Ange Felix Patassé, and were composed mainly of ethnic Sara-Kaba. While both groups had previously divided the territory in the Northwest, tensions erupted after the killing of RJ leader, Clément Bélanga, in November 2017.
Beginning around 2017, Russia began to increasingly support the government of Touadéra, whose personal guard became largely Russian as well. Three Russian journalists were killed in 2018 while investigating Russian mercenary groups in CAR. In August 2018, Russia and Sudan helped broker another tentative agreement among armed groups. After talks in Khartoum, an African Union led initiative led to an accord between the government and 14 rebel groups in February 2019, the eighth such agreement since the war started in 2012. As part of the accord, Ali Darassa of UPC, Mahamat Al Khatim of MPC and Sidiki Abass of 3R were given positions as special military advisers to the prime minister's office overseeing special mixed units made of government and rebel soldiers in regions of the country that they already controlled. This did not stop the violence, with 3R killing more than 50 people in several villages in May 2019, leading to MINUSCA to launch a military operation against them. In August 2019, Sidiki Abbas of 3R and Mahamat Al Khatim of MPC resigned from their government posts. Democratic Front of the Central African People leader Abdoulaye Miskine refused to take his government post and joined a new rebel group formed in June 2019 called Parti du Rassemblement de la Nation Centrafricaine to oppose the peace deal, claiming that the deal is a way of rebel leaders to gain money and posts from the government. In September 2019, fighting between two rebel groups that signed the February 2019 deal, FPRC and the mostly Kara Movement of Central African Liberators for Justice, which was founded by Abakar Sabon and was not part of the Seleka alliance that overthrew Bozize, killed at least 24 people and displaced about 24,000.
On February 6, 2019, representatives of the CAR government and fourteen recognized rebel groups signed a new peace treaty, the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation, in Bangui. • “Talks leading to the accord took place in Khartoum from Jan. 24 – Feb. 5 of this year and were led by the African Union and the United Nations, with support from ECCAS in the lead-up and follow-up to the process. The U.S., the European Union, and Russia also helped support preparations for the talks... During the preparations for the dialogue, Russia, in conjunction with Sudan, attempted to initiate a separate peace process. Ultimately, the two processes were merged to prevent them from undermining one another.”
The party of former President Francois Bozize announced his return to the country in December 2019.
On February 17, 2020, members of the Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central Africa attacked MINUSCA forces in Birao, leading to 12 FPRC forces being killed.

Atrocities

Religious cleansing

It is argued that the focus of the initial disarmament efforts exclusively on the Seleka inadvertently handed the anti-Balaka the upper hand, leading to the forced displacement of Muslim civilians by anti-Balaka in Bangui and western CAR. While comparisons were often posed as the "next Rwanda", others suggested that the Bosnian Genocide's may be more apt as people were moving into religiously cleansed neighbourhoods. Even while Seleka was closing in on the capital, clashes began in Bangui's PK5 neighborhood, where members of ethnic groups with ties to Séléka were attacked, such as the Gula. In 2014, Amnesty International reported several massacres committed by the anti-balakas against Muslim civilians, forcing thousands of Muslims to flee the country. Other sources report incidents of Muslims being cannibalized. On 10 April, MISCA troops escorted over 1,000 Muslims fleeing to Chad with a police source saying "not a single Muslim remains in Bossangoa." Much of the tension is also over historical antagonism between agriculturalists, who largely comprise Anti-balaka and nomadic groups, who largely comprise Seleka fighters. In 2015, Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said 417 of the country's 436 mosques had been destroyed, and Muslim women were so scared of going out in public they were giving birth in their homes instead of going to the hospital.

Ethnic violence

There was ethnic violence during fighting between the Ex-Séléka militias FPRC and UPC, with the FPRC targeting Fulani people who largely make up the UPC and the UPC targeting the Gula and Runga people, who largely make up FPRC, as being sympathetic to FPRC. In November 2016 fighting in Bria that killed 85 civilians, FPRC was reported targeting Fulani people in house-to-house searches, lootings, abductions and killings. It is also reported that in 2019, violence broke out in the northeastern, where the killing of an ethnic Kara man sparked heavy fighting between the mainly Kara MLCJ and largely Runga FPRC.

Violence against aid workers and crime

In 2015, humanitarian aid workers in the CAR were involved in more than 365 security incidents, more than Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. By 2017, more than two thirds of all health facilities have been damaged or destroyed. The crimes are often committed by individuals not associated with any armed rebel groups. There have been jail breaks with more than 500 inmates escaping from Nagaragba Central Prison, including fighters of both Christian and Muslim militias. By 2017, only eight of 35 prisons function and few courts operate outside the capital. The international press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders said it was concerned that the rebel attacks were taking their toll on the ability of radio stations to operate in the CAR, with condemnation of the killing of journalist Elisabeth Blanche Olofio, who worked for Radio Bé-Oko which is part of a network of apolitical radio stations known as L'Association des Radios Communautaires de Centrafrique.

Casualties

Mortality

2013 fatalities were 2,286–2,396+:
2014 ;
2015 ;
2016 ;
2019 ;

Displaced people

In May 2014, it was reported that around 600,000 people in CAR were internally displaced with 160,000 of these in the capital Bangui. The Muslim population of Bangui dropped 99% from 138,000 to 900. By May 2014, 100,000 people had fled to neighbouring Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad. As of 2017, there are more than 1.1 million displaced people in a country of about 5 million people, the highest ever recorded in the country, with about half a million refugees outside CAR and about 600,000 internally displaced. Cameroon hosted the most refugees, more than 135,000, about 90% of whom are Fulani, even though they constituted 6% of CAR's population.

International response

Organizations

;Regional
;Others